COUV ACTES - Psychologie communautaire

Community Psychology: Common Values, Diverse PracticesThe commitment of the French team is to contribute, in the medium term, to the first three objectives listedabove, and based on the principles of participatory research, using repeated individual and group observations andinterviews.In France, the group taking part in the research was built mainly through the commitment and the will of awoman and her own experiences as migrant. The isolation or confinement and a sense of uselessness had adepressive effect on these women who, in their home country, had always worked. At her instigation, from thenetwork of support and reciprocal exchanges that the women had spontaneously reconstituted following theexample of their country of origin and on the basis of informal trade with Africa led by some of them, they havedeveloped an association project which, linked to the equitable approach, could ensure a decent wage in thecountry of origin and allow migrant women to escape their isolation. Besides the compensation, the explicit aimwas to gain visibility and recognition.Currently, they have managed to establish a business of handicrafts made by themselves and/or bought fromAfrica, in a fair trade center supported by the municipality's website.The changes updated, in and through research, involve several levels: individual levels (in terms of resourcesand action), institutional levels including the effective recognition of their roles in the social and cultural life of thecity as well as structural levels of gender and "race" observable in families where traditional gender roles weretroubled, sometimes, to the extent of inversion (husbands becoming women traders’ assistant) and within theircustomer base. They managed to reach, from a situation of isolation and mental health weakened by a strongsense of social uselessness, the establishment of an informal network and an association, which is still fragile butrecognized by local authorities. The construction and solidification of this integral structure gave them the means todevelop economic resources generating activities but also cultural activities. This actual success – a uniqueexample of fair trade implemented and managed by women from the countries concerned - but still precarious,allowed them to have access to an individual self-esteem, to develop a strong sense of efficacy and fulfillment.However, questions remain, mainly related to the dynamics of identity, power and recognition. We give twoexamples: first, the centering of this site solely on crafts and trade products from Africa by African women is a realrisk of ghettoization that locks them into an assigned polarized identity. On the other hand, an ambiguousrelationship has been created between them and the intellectual elite, including women of the African community inFrance. Manipulated, they are vulnerable to these elites with strong social and cultural resources that do not resistthe temptation to appropriate the "ownership" of their achievement or to try to take leadership for their ownnotoriety. They have to fight so that the now acquired recognition of their work could not escape them.Discussion: prospects and challenges of participationThis research is ongoing. Our future prospects will be, with participants, to report to institutional partners and thescientific community on the dynamics of processes that contributed to local development, promotion andinstitutional solidification of their initiative. Cooperative synergy promoted the expression of initial feelings ofsubjugation and permitted the realization of their strength, their actual skills, and their own values. This proactive115